The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince - Extract

7/29/2019 The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince - Extract

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THE

WILFUL PRINCESS

& THEPIEBALD PRINCE


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HarperCollinsPublishers7785 Fulham Palace Road,

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Published by HarperVoyagerAn imprint o HarperCollinsPublishers 2013

1

Copyright Robin Hobb 2013

Illustrations Jackie Morris 2013

Robin Hobb asserts the moral right to

be identifed as the author o this work

A catalogue record or this book

is available rom the British Library

ISBN: 978 0 00 749813 0

This novel is entirely a work o fction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work o the authors imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.Printed and bound in Great Britain by

Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any orm or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior

permission o the publishers.

FSC is a non-proft international organisation established

to promote the responsible management o the worlds orests.

Products carrying the FSC label are independently certifed

to assure consumers that they come rom orests that are managed

to meet the social, economic and ecological needs

o present and uture generations.

Find out more about HarperCollins and the environment atwww.harpercollins.co.uk/green


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Part One

The Wilful Princess


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9

t Redbirds request do I, Felicity, write these words.

He was a lettered man and could have under-

taken this venture himsel had ate allotted

him time or it, but it did not. He earnestly put this task

upon me, entreating that I be nothing but truthul, as

befts the memory o a truth-speaking minstrel, and that I

write in my clearest hand, or he wished that these words

be plain to any who might read them, next year or a score

o years hence. He charged me, too, to write o things

only I can know so that in years to come no one can say

that what they read here was but a minstrels ancy, a fllip

added to history to make it a juicier tale.

So I will write these words twice, as he did his song, and

bind them together in two packets. One I will place in a

hidden place known only to me, and the other I will hide

where Redbird said it will likely remain well hidden or

years: the scroll library at Buckkeep. And so the truth may


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Robin Hobb

10

be hidden or days or weeks or even decades, but eventu-

ally it will come out!

Much o this tale is Redbirds tale, but I will preace it

with a story that not even he knows in ull. For it is only

when his tale and mine are told side by side that the ull

signifcance o them can be understood.

Now Redbird was a minstrel and a truthsinger, one

sworn to his king to sing only the true songs, the histories

and the records o the realms. Not or him tales o dragons

and pecksies and maidens enchanted to sleep or a hun-

dred years. No, his task was to observe, and remember,

and tell plain only and exactly what he saw. And so I shall

honour his proession and his ways, or truth and truth

only shall I trap here in my letters. And i it be a truth that

ill pleases olk these days, at least it will remain somewhere

or someone to fnd some day and know the true blood o

the Farseer lineage.

My part o the tale begins when I was a little girl. My

mother and I were both there on the name-sealing day or

Princess Caution Farseer. Queen Capable was radiant in

an elegant gown o green and white that set o her dark

eyes and hair. King Virile was dressed in well-tailored Buck

blue, as was ftting. And the little princess was naked, as

custom decreed.

Princess Caution was six weeks old at the time, a well-

ormed child with a crop o curly dark hair. My mother, her


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The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince

11

wet-nurse, stood by with a heavily embroidered coverlet

and a sot blanket to receive the child ater the ceremony.

I stood at her side, better dressed than Id ever been in my

lie, holding several clean white annels in the event o any

accidents.

I didnt listen to the words o the sealing ceremony. At

three years old, I was too intent on what I had heard was

going to happen to the baby. She would be passed through

fre, immersed in water, and buried in earth to seal her

name to her and be sure that she would express the virtues

o it. So, as the ames in the brazier leaped high and the

queen held out her little daughter, I caught my breath in

terror and anticipation.

But the queen barely waved the child through the

smoke. One ame might have licked at her rosy little heel,

but the princess made no murmur o objection. I did. But

she didnt go through the fre!

My mother set her hand on my shoulder. Hush,

Felicity, she said gently, and backed the admonition with

a sharp pinch.

I clenched my lips and kept silent. Even at three, I well

knew that a pinch was a warning o worse things to come

i I disobeyed. I saw that the child was barely submersed

in the water beore the queen snatched her out o it, and

that scarcely a trowelul o dry soil was dribbled down

her back, never touching her head and brow at all. The


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little princess was startled but not weeping as the queen

handed her over to her royal ather. Virile lited her high,

and the nobility o the Six Duchies solemnly bowed beore

the Farseer heir. As her ather lowered her, Caution began

to wail, and Virile quickly handed her to her mother. Even

more switly, the queen passed her to my mother. Wiped

clean and wrapped in her blankets, Caution settled again,

and my mother returned her to the queen.

I remember little more o that day, save or a comment

I heard passed rom one duke to another. She was under

the water so briey the bubbles didnt even rise rom her

skin. Her name was not sealed to her.

The other shook her head. Mark me well, Bearns. Her

parents will not have the heart to raise her as sternly as

they ought.

On the day that Princess Caution Farseer was born, my

mother had weaned me. She should have weaned me when

I was two, but when she learned that Queen Capable was

with child she kept me at the breast to be sure that she

would still be in milk when the royal inant was born. My

grandmother had been Queen Capables wet-nurse, and

had won the promise rom her mother that when the time

came her own daughter would likewise serve her amily.

It was our great good luck that Lady Capable grew up

to wed King Virile. Queen Capable might have orgotten

her mothers promise, but my grandmother and mother


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certainly did not. The women o our amily have long had a

tradition o providing or their daughters as best they may.

We are not a wealthy amily nor o noble lineage, but many

a high-born child has been nourished on our rich milk.

I lived at Buckkeep with my mother during the years

she suckled Princess Caution. My mother saw to it that

rom the frst day the princess was entrusted to her care,

I served her royal highness. At frst, my duties were small

and simple: to etch a warm washcloth, to bring a clean

napkin, to carry a basket o soiled little garments down to

the washerwomen. But as I grew I became the princesss

servant more than my mothers helper. I held her hands

or her frst toddling steps, interpreted her babyish lisping

or adults too stupid to understand her, and helped her in

all ways that an older sister might help a younger one. I

she wanted a toy, I etched it or her. I she fnished her

bread and milk and wanted more, I gave her mine. For my

mother whispered into my ear every night beore I slept,

Serve her in all things, or i she makes you hers, then you

have made her yours as well. Then, perhaps, as you grow,

your lie will be easier than mine has been.

So, rom a very early age, I gave way to the princess in

all things. I soothed her hurts, quieted her tantrums, and

indulged her in every small way that I could. It was me she

wanted to cut her meat, and me who tied her slippers. My

bed was beside my mothers, in the room adjacent to the


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Princess Cautions nursery. When she had a restless night,

an evil dream or a teething ever, I oten slept in her big

sot bed beside her and she took comort rom my pres-

ence. I became invisible, as much a part o the princess as

her little green cloak or her lacy white nightdress.

Queen Capable was a doting but not attentive mother.

She adored the sweet, calm moments with her baby, but

quickly surrendered the child to my mothers care the

moment Caution became soiled, ractious or trying. That

suited my mother well. She always did her best to give the

queen exactly the experience o her child that she wished

to have. I marked well how this benefted my mother and

me and in my childish way I mimicked this behavior with

the little princess.

Caution was not sickly, but neither was she a hearty

inant: even when she could hold her own spoon she was

ussy about what she ate. The only ood that she never

reused was the milk o my mothers breast. Perhaps that

was why she was allowed to nurse long past the age at

which most children are weaned, but the more likely

reason was that the little princess was never reused any-

thing she wanted. She had only to shed a single tear and all

past rules were overturned that she might be the exception.

She was over our years old when fnally she gave up the

teat, and only because my mother caught summer ever

and her milk dried up.


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Nobler women than we had long been waiting a chance

to tend the little princess and win her regard. As soon as it

was known that my mothers milk was gone and Caution

weaned, a better-born nanny was brought in to take my

mothers place, and nobler playmates oered to her.

When I returned with my mother to our cottage and

the stony felds my ather tended, all seemed strange to

me. I had grown up at Buckkeep and had only the vaguest

memories o my own home. I had seen my ather and elder

brother at intervals, but did not know either o them in a

amiliar, comortable way. They were too busy with the

chores o our arm to have much time or me. My mother

turned her eorts to getting with child again, or only then

would her milk return and another wet-nurse position be

oered to her. It was her career and what she expected to

do or as long as she could bear a child or give milk to

someone elses.

I was not glad to be there. Our house was small and

our living conditions rude and rustic ater the comorts o

Buckkeep. No rug shielded me rom the rough oor; no

tapestry blocked the wind that crept through the plank

walls o the lot where I slept. Food was simple and my

portion smaller than when I had been the princesss table

mate, setting her an example o how to eat well and heart-

ily. Nonetheless, when on the third day ater our return

a messenger arrived to etch me back to Buckkeep, I was


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not pleased to go. I heard with satisaction that Princess

Caution missed me, that she wanted nothing to do with

other playmates, that she would not sleep at night but had

cried and ussed ever since I had let. The princess had

demanded that I be returned to her, and the queen hersel

had sent the messenger to etch me back. But I had been at

my mothers side or nearly every day since I had been born,

and I did not wish to be separated rom her.

I was not quite seven and I dared to yowl when my

mother announced that I would be glad to go. We let the

messenger staring while my mother dragged me up to the

lot to pack my clothes, and brush and braid my hair. It

was there that she gave me the sharp slap that quietened

me. As I sobbed and she olded my clothes and tucked them

into a bag, she gave me the most succinct advice surely that

ever a mother gave a small daughter. You are crying when

you should be rejoicing. This is your chance, Felicity, and

possibly the only one I can ever give you. Stay with me,

and you will have to marry young, bear oten, and nurse

children until your breasts sag at and your back never

ceases aching. But go with the messenger now, and you

have the chance to become the princesss confdante and

playmate, despite our low birth. Make much o her at all

times, always take her side, intervene and intercede or her.

You are a clever girl. Learn everything she is taught. Make

frst claim on her cast-os. Be indispensable. Perorm


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every humble task or her that others disdain. Do all these

things, my little one, and who knows what you can make

or yoursel and o yoursel? Now, dry your tears. I hope

you will remember and heed my words long ater youve

orgotten all else about me. I will come to see you as soon

as I can. But until then remember that I loved you enough

to put you on this path. Give me a hug and a kiss, or I will

surely miss you, my clever one.

Slapped, counselled and kissed arewell, I ollowed her

down the ladder rom the lot. The messenger had brought

a pony or me to ride back to Buckkeep. That was my frst

experience astride a horse, and the beginning o my lie-

long distrust o the creatures.

By the next day, I was back at Buckkeep, reinstalled

in the small servants chamber o the princesss own bed-

room, and back into Princess Cautions daily routine. That

night, the queen hersel sat at the oot o her daughters

bed while I stood beside her and sang lullaby ater lul-

laby until Princess Caution drowsed o. For that service,

I received a queenly smile, a pat on the head and a scowl

rom the royal nursemaid who had been displaced rom

the chamber next to the princess own. It was the frst time

I ound mysel squarely at odds with my ellow servants,

but it was not to be the last.

I never lived in my athers house again, but my parents

did not orget me. Every ew years, my mother came to


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court as a wet-nurse, or she had ound avour with the

noble ladies or her calm and competent ways. We oten

ound ways to see each another. She guided me in how

I managed the princess and gave me much wise advice.

Whenever I thanked her she would say, There will come

a time when I cannot nurse a baby any more, and then lie

will be harder or me. I hope that when my ortune turns,

you will remember that I gave you up to put you on a

better path than mine. And always I would promise that

I would.

The baby princess grew, as all children grow, and

became beautiul, as some children do, and developed a

stubborn will o her own such as most parents most heart-

ily wish no child o theirs ever does. So the minstrels have

sung o her, but it is not air to think she spoiled hersel.

Caution was a princess, and her mother was a queen. And

Caution was the only green and growing sprig on the royal

tree, and so she was indulged. Despite being Cautions

avourite companion, I was deemed too young to care or

her alone. The nursemaid bore the brunt o Cautions wil-

ulness. Flung dishes and shrieking tantrums were daily

events. The nursemaid strove to take a frm line with the

princess, but the moment the royal heir was banished to

scream and kick alone, I was at her side, to soothe and

comort her. Did I know then that I was encouraging her

wilulness? Not on a reasoning level, but I recognized that


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I could be to her what no one else was. I can only deend

mysel by saying that I regarded the princess as mine in a

way that she belonged to no one else. I resented it when

others sought to discipline her or orce her into any action.

I loved her: she was my baby, my sibling and my uture. So

I suppose that in some ways I was partially responsible or

her headstrong ways.

At frst, it was only in small things that Caution

demanded her way. She would wear her yellow skirts every

single day, not her green ones or her red ones or even her

blue ones with the white rues all round. Her yellow ones

only would she wear, even i they were muddied and needed

mending. Nor would she accept a dierent set o yellow

skirts, no not even i the abric had been woven by the

same weaver and the hems stitched by the same seamstress.

Only her frst yellow skirts would she wear. So the laun-

dress and the seamstress toiled by night so that the yellow

skirts were presentable every morning. I trotted willingly

down the stairs every night to the washing court bearing

the yellow skirts, and no one had to wake me at dawn to

again make that journey to bring my princess the reshly

washed and pressed skirts. I saw to it that it was always

rom me that she received them. Whenever I could, I took

credit or any good thing that came to her.

As she got older and her presence was required more

oten in ormal settings, it was I who astened her slippers


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and ued her skirts and smoothed her jet-black hair

beore she went out the door. And when, as oten hap-

pened, the occasion ended in a royal tantrum by the over-

tired child, I was the one they sent or, to coax and pet her

back into a cooperative rame o mind and get her to bed.

As she grew, Princess Caution demanded her way in

larger things. From reusing any skirts but her yellow ones,

she went to demanding a cascade o stylish and elaborate

garments. She would not eat the meat o cattle nor swine

nor owl, but only on venison would she dine, morning,

noon and night, winter or summer. And so the huntsman

must hunt and the butcher must dress his kills all year

round to make sure her meals pleased her, even when the

season was not right or the taking o a deer. Her ather,


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taking a stand with her at last, declared that perhaps his

daughter would be more reasonable i she saw the extent

o the work that her habits required. Thus, she was less

than ten when he took her on her frst hunt. It troubled me,

or I did not like horses and did not ride with pleasure. But

Princess Caution insisted I must accompany her and, as I

always did, I gave way to her.

I her ather had thought to dissuade Caution, that hunt

was the wrong tack to take. She rode well, as she had rom


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the frst time she was set on a horse, and kept up easily

with the lead riders. She saw the stag brought to bay, saw

the dogs bring him down and be whipped o him, and

took no discouragement rom any o the wild and bloody

scene. I was spared that sight or I had lagged ar behind

the pack and only caught up with the party as they were

preparing to return home. But I might as well have been

there, because or days aterwards the princess talked o

little else.

In one regard the king succeeded, or his daughter

became a huntress in her own right, and expanded her diet

to include any game that she hersel brought down. So she

provided pheasant and duck or the table, venison in plenty

and even wild boar as she grew stronger and more capable.

Only when hunting did she abandon my company, but as

it put her oten at her athers side and among his nobles,

the king rejoiced in his osprings new-ound interest. So I

took care not to interere, even i it did put her outside my

inuence. Instead, I became the willing listener or every

exploit she cared to share with me. Indeed, I think that my

own clumsiness on horseback and squeamishness at the

blood delighted her. For so long I had been her elder and

always the better at whatever we did. When I saw how

pleased she was to have bested me, I took care never to

compete with her, but always expressed my wonder at all

she could do.


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The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince - Extract